Mike Dean had his say on a key incident from the first half of the Liverpool v Chelsea clash at Anfield this afternoon.
Reds fans will have felt aggrieved over a couple of incidents in the opening few minutes of the match, although they were awarded a penalty shortly before the half-hour mark when Levi Colwill upended Curtis Jones inside the box.
Dean has his say on penalty decision
The former Premier League referee was on co-commentary for Sky Sports when he gave his input on the decision from John Brooks.
Dean said: “[Colwill] hasn’t played the ball and he’s caught Curtis Jones on the front of his leg and it won’t be overturned in my opinion. I wouldn’t say [he was under pressure from the crowd] as he’s an experienced referee, but it’s definitely a penalty kick.”
Sky Sports reporter Vinny O’Connor noted that the Chelsea defender was hotly disputing the call, but the officials were unmoved and Mo Salah duly dispatched the resulting spot kick.
Easy decision for the referee
Colwill didn’t have a leg to stand on as far as that decision went – he clearly impeded Jones inside the box and Brooks had no option but to point to the spot.
In fact, Chelsea had just survived another potential penalty call when Salah went down under pressure from the Blues defender. Despite the shouts from the home fans at Anfield, that one would’ve been very soft had it been given.
We wait to see what Enzo Maresca will have made of the spot kick which was awarded, but any ire of his should be directed at Nicolas Jackson for picking up a daft yellow card for unsportsmanlike behaviour just before the Egyptian took his shot.
Nobody wants to be talking primarily about officials after a match, but in some instances it’s simply unavoidable. Hopefully, at the time of writing, Liverpool can go on to win comfortably enough to render the refereeing decisions nothing more than a footnote.
